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topic: Worst Horror Flicks/Favorite Horror Flicks |
underdog
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post #1
on October 20, 2006 - 4:21 PM PDT
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It's more fun to talk about the worst, but more useful to your fellow renters n' buyers to talk about the best - so talk about either/both, or break down by genre...
Worst horror film you've ever seen? (Maybe not counting really old, low-budget horror that probably isn't fair to pick on...)
Favorite horror films? (Ghost movie, werewolf, zombie, etc)
My favorite ghost movie was Poltergeist even though it may not be the "best." It's so well-crafted, both scary and funny, with characters you care about. Too bad much of the young cast was so cursed.
Favorite zombie flick: Dawn of the Dead, Return of the Living Dead, and Cemetery Man.
Worst seen recently? Easily Van Helsing, an incoherent abomination.
Favorite classic horror film? I have many, though Cat People and many of the Val Lewton films are high on the list, as well as Bride of Frankenstein.
"Bad" horror can of course be enjoyable, too; when I think of "bad" I'm thinking of movies you just resent for being terrible rather than enjoyed for camp value. |
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hamano
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post #2
on October 21, 2006 - 6:34 AM PDT
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My favorites are the original ALIEN and, for some reason, Pet Sematary. Who can resist a pretty cat and a cute baby?
Most of the j-horror I've seen are utter crap. My daughter does better acting when she tries to come up with an excuse for forgetting her homework! |
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underdog
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post #3
on October 21, 2006 - 11:48 AM PDT
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> On October 21, 2006 - 6:34 AM PDT hamano wrote:
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> My favorites are the original ALIEN and, for some reason, Pet Sematary. Who can resist a pretty cat and a cute baby?
Did you ever read the book Pet Sematary? That book scared the bejeezus out of me, even if the movie with Fred Gwynne didn't quite...
>
> Most of the j-horror I've seen are utter crap. My daughter does better acting when she tries to come up with an excuse for forgetting her homework!
> ---------------------------------
Probably right about the acting for the most part, though didn't you find the original Ringu at least a little scary? |
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ALittlefield
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post #4
on October 21, 2006 - 3:14 PM PDT
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Personally I found the original RINGU and DARK WATERS scary, but the gimmick of the scary ghost girl that pops in every J-horror film seems to have run its course.
My favorite horror movie of all time is probably BRIDE OF FRANKENSTEIN, which has lots of style and humor, along with Karloff's great performance.
I also enjoy all the Val Lewton produced films (like CAT PEOPLE and I WALKED WITH A ZOMBIE).
Then there's Vincent Price in THE MASQUE OF THE RED DEATH and FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER. Indeed, almost anything Price is in is entertaining.
Has there ever been a really great vampire movie? The original NOSFERATU is probably the best, otherwise there's the overrated (the original DRACULA, the Christopher Lee films) and the downright stupid (DRACULA 2000).
NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD will always be the classic zombie film, but I would also highly recommend the hillarious SHAWN OF THE DEAD. I actually like this homage more than the original DAWN!
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ALittlefield
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post #5
on October 21, 2006 - 3:28 PM PDT
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| Hey, here's a good trivia question: Which horror film actor is the only one to portray a vampire, a mummy, a werewolf, and the Frankenstein monster? |
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Cinenaut
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post #6
on October 23, 2006 - 9:04 AM PDT
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Robert Wise's The Haunting is one of my favorite horror films and its 1999 sequel has to be one of the worst, despite a not-too-shabby cast.
And that's "worst" in a boring way, not in a campily-delightful way, of course.
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Cinenaut
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post #7
on October 23, 2006 - 9:05 AM PDT
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> On October 21, 2006 - 3:28 PM PDT ALittlefield wrote:
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> Hey, here's a good trivia question: Which horror film actor is the only one to portray a vampire, a mummy, a werewolf, and the Frankenstein monster?
> ---------------------------------
Bela Lugosi? I don't know that he played a werewolf, though. |
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underdog
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post #8
on October 23, 2006 - 10:47 AM PDT
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> On October 23, 2006 - 9:05 AM PDT Cinenaut wrote:
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> > On October 21, 2006 - 3:28 PM PDT ALittlefield wrote:
> > ---------------------------------
> > Hey, here's a good trivia question: Which horror film actor is the only one to portray a vampire, a mummy, a werewolf, and the Frankenstein monster?
> > ---------------------------------
>
>
A Littlefield has great taste of course!
A: I was going to guess Boris Karloff, but I can't recall a film in which he played a vampire... Hmm... (not without cheating anyway)
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hamano
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post #9
on October 23, 2006 - 12:10 PM PDT
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| underdog guessed Karloff, which was my first choice, so I'd say Christopher Lee... |
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kohnfused1
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post #10
on October 23, 2006 - 2:59 PM PDT
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> On October 23, 2006 - 9:05 AM PDT Cinenaut wrote:
> ---------------------------------
> > On October 21, 2006 - 3:28 PM PDT ALittlefield wrote:
> > ---------------------------------
> > Hey, here's a good trivia question: Which horror film actor is the only one to portray a vampire, a mummy, a werewolf, and the Frankenstein monster?
> > ---------------------------------
>
>
> Bela Lugosi? I don't know that he played a werewolf, though.
> ---------------------------------
I'm with Cinenaut, Lugosi was the first name that popped into my head. He seemed like a jack-of-all-trade for the horror genre of his time. Karloff was a close second. So, what's the answer? |
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DLeonard
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post #11
on October 23, 2006 - 5:53 PM PDT
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I think Karloff did just two of those; Frankenstein & Mummy.
Lon Chaney, Jr. played at least 2 also; Frankenstein and Werewolf, but the other two???
Lugosi I believe did 3; Vampire, Frankenstein and Werewolf, but I can't think of him ever playing the Mummy.
Christopher Lee for certain played 3; Frankenstein, Vampire and Mummy, but once again that ever elusive 4th escapes me.
Wait, it wasn't John Carradine was it? |
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ALittlefield
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post #12
on October 23, 2006 - 6:52 PM PDT
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> On October 23, 2006 - 5:53 PM PDT DLeonard wrote:
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> Lon Chaney, Jr. played at least 2 also; Frankenstein and Werewolf, but the other two???
Well, he famously played the werewolf in THE WEREWOLF (Duh), and also FRANKENSTEIN MEETS THE WEREWOLF, HOUSE OF FRANKENSTEIN, HOUSE OF DRACULA and ABBOTT AND COSTELLO MEET FRANKENSTEIN.
He played Frankenstein's monster in GHOST OF FRANKENSTEIN.
He played the mummy in THE MUMMY'S CURSE and THE MUMMY'S TOMB.
And he played Dracula himself in SON OF DRACULA, which, despite the title, featured the one and only Dracula and not his offspring. The reason few people know this movie is because it bites rather heavily, mostly due to the utter miscasting of the beefy, non-Hungarian Chaney. (His attempts at an accent are pretty laughable!) |
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hamano
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underdog
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post #14
on October 24, 2006 - 12:45 PM PDT
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| Boy, there really haven't been many decent Dracula flicks have there, or vampire flicks in general... |
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ALittlefield
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post #15
on October 25, 2006 - 6:43 AM PDT
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Here's another couple questions:
Who was up for the title role in DRACULA before it went to Bela Lugosi?
In which film did Lugosi play the Frankenstein monster for the only time? |
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KGreen2
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post #16
on October 25, 2006 - 8:38 AM PDT
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One of my Favorite Vampire movies are Martin and Vampyr.
One ot the worst was Dracula (1979) w/ Frank Langells and a TV BOMB ( And I don't mean " The Bomb") Dracula 3000
> On October 20, 2006 - 4:21 PM PDT underdog wrote:
> ---------------------------------
> It's more fun to talk about the worst, but more useful to your fellow renters n' buyers to talk about the best - so talk about either/both, or break down by genre...
>
> Worst horror film you've ever seen? (Maybe not counting really old, low-budget horror that probably isn't fair to pick on...)
>
> Favorite horror films? (Ghost movie, werewolf, zombie, etc)
>
> My favorite ghost movie was Poltergeist even though it may not be the "best." It's so well-crafted, both scary and funny, with characters you care about. Too bad much of the young cast was so cursed.
>
> Favorite zombie flick: Dawn of the Dead, Return of the Living Dead, and Cemetery Man.
> Worst seen recently? Easily Van Helsing, an incoherent abomination.
>
> Favorite classic horror film? I have many, though Cat People and many of the Val Lewton films are high on the list, as well as Bride of Frankenstein.
>
> "Bad" horror can of course be enjoyable, too; when I think of "bad" I'm thinking of movies you just resent for being terrible rather than enjoyed for camp value.
> ---------------------------------
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underdog
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post #17
on October 26, 2006 - 3:14 PM PDT
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Aside from Bride of Frankenstein (and the original is certainly still great, too), has there ever been a horror sequel that improved on the original? Some could argue Dawn of the Dead was better than Night of the Living Dead, but in some ways it's like comparing apples and oranges (or brains and rotting feet), as the first was... The First. And great for being filmed on such a low budget, and so influential.
None of the subsequent Halloween films are worth a damn, in my opinion.
Any of the Chucky sequels better than the first? |
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ALittlefield
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post #18
on October 27, 2006 - 2:19 PM PDT
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I agree that most horror movie sequels are far worse than the originals and often even wind up tarnishing the memory of what the orignal good. (In the first NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET movie, Freddy Krueger was a truly frightening and menacing character, a few films later he was a tired punster)
I personally liked the hillarious EVIL DEAD 2 more than the scary original. Oddly, the second is more like a funny remake of the first than a sequel, so what can I say, I like the comedy version more. Especially since the first film contains a scene where a women is raped by a tree that I think crosses the line from scary to exploitive. |
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underdog
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post #19
on October 28, 2006 - 1:24 PM PDT
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Evil Dead 2 is a great counterexample - definitely better than the original, as if the first were a rough draft that had its moments and the second was the more polished draft.
Now Jaws 3-D, there was a far superior follow-up! |
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underdog
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post #20
on October 30, 2006 - 1:54 PM PST
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My poor girlfriend had bad zombie dreams the other night after we watched Land of the Dead and part of Shaun of the Dead (which we'd seen before). Zombie overload - it can happen to you!
Good thing we didn't watch any of the recent spate of sadistic horror movies - the Saws and Hostels of the world. Can only imagine her dreams then! |
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